Every time we open a newly purchased refrigerator, we feel refreshed - the smooth outer shell, neat and clean inner wall, shiny brackets, and every line is the result of the designer's efforts. But if you look closely, there are some small things that seem to be out of harmony: the doors, brackets, drawers and small parts such as ice trays of the new refrigerator are often covered with a white, blue or transparent single-sided tape. Why is this?
In fact, the reason is very simple. When a refrigerator is transported from the manufacturing plant to the store, warehouse or consumer's home, it will inevitably shake and vibrate along the way. If there is no certain fixing measures, the refrigerator door can be easily shaken open during transportation. In addition, the movable parts in the refrigerator, such as drawers, brackets, etc., will also be directly thrown out when the refrigerator door is opened. In this way, when it arrives at the destination, the refrigerator is already bruised and battered. Therefore, refrigerator manufacturers often use single-sided tape to fix shelves, drawers, refrigerator doors, etc. to ensure that each refrigerator will not be damaged by shocks on the road when it arrives at the destination.
This type of single-sided tape is usually transparent or light in color. If you look closely, you will find that these tapes are usually very tough, and some can even see "fibers" on the surface - these are glass fibers used to enhance the strength of the tape. Only when this type of tape is strong enough can it ensure that the door body and movable parts will not be shaken open casually during transportation. The transparent color is of course considered for the overall appearance of the refrigerator, but it is too transparent and consumers may easily overlook the tape in some remote places. For example, some people rarely use ice trays or egg trays, or a certain drawer, but never find that they are fixed with tape, so they always keep the tape. Therefore, light blue or light red tape is usually used for fixing.
But another question arises from this. Are these fixing tapes suitable for keeping in the refrigerator?
This question is mainly raised because of the following concerns: Do these tapes have odors, will they release any chemicals, and will they affect the food stored in the refrigerator? In addition, people often start to use some new parts after using the refrigerator for a period of time. When they tear off the tape on it, they find that the tape glue has "deteriorated" because of low-temperature freezing, leaving an ugly residual glue, which is not only inconvenient to use but also affects the appearance.
The answer to the first question is no. First of all, manufacturers have requirements for volatility and odor for such tapes. Qualified products will not have obvious odor. The raw materials used to make this type of tape are usually chemically stable polypropylene, which will not cause harm to the environment and food in the refrigerator like plastic products such as polyvinyl chloride plastic bags. There are excellent tape products on the market.
But the second question is indeed a "heartache" for some people. For this problem, refrigerator manufacturers have actually taken into account this demand of customers and started to use single-sided tape that can be placed for a long time in an environment of dozens of degrees below zero and will not leave any residual glue when torn off, so that even the appearance problem will no longer exist.
So the question of "whether to tear off the fixing tape or not" is no longer a problem. If there is such a fixing tape left in your refrigerator, you don't need to worry too much about its safety, or whether it must be torn off before use. Use it as you like, which is also the commitment made by refrigerator manufacturers to product quality.
